As part of my collaboration with GigGuide.tw, the full review and photos for this set are now available there. Below I’ve posted a few select photos from the batch and of course, my photographer’s notes and gear information. For the complete set of photos and full review of the Sadon (山東) And The Fader performance, see my full review on GigGuide.
Notes
Not having been to The Wall in quite a while, I was really looking forward to having another crack at it; this time from the photo pit. My memories of shooting at The Wall were basically bad: poor lighting, low mobility because of the crowds and ringing ears afterwards from having forgotten my earplugs. So how was shooting from the pit? Challenging.
Of the three aforementioned problems, the second and third were gone this time around. No worries about ringing ears, I came prepared with earplugs (and the music was a lot softer). As for the crowd, well, it was still there but I was in the pit this time and my only worries regarding the audience were about being in the way. The poor lighting was still there though, and it’s absolutely terrible when shooting in the pit.
The problem isn’t so much about the amount of light, or even its quality (although there is a lot of color cast, but that’s unavoidable in this line of work). Unlike before, I know what I’m doing now and I can deal with those two problems pretty decently. Nope, the problem with the lighting at The Wall is the positioning of the lights. The way I see it (pun intended!), whoever did the lighting design there pretty much said “I hate concert photographers and will make their lives hell.” Mission accomplished. Now I know why I never see decent photos coming out of that place. All the lighting is at the back and sides of the stage. There’s just barely enough illumination from lights closer to the front (but still on the sides) that you can get faces, but the vast majority of the lights are not very high, and all the way in the back. This means that no matter how carefully you compose a shot, chances are you’re going to catch light head on and flare like crazy. I normally don’t carry my lens hoods to gigs (no space in the bag) but I’m definitely reconsidering that for any future shoots at The Wall. On a positive note, shooting frequently at The Wall is basically forcing me to consider newer lenses with better coatings against flare; at least that’s how I’m going to justify it to my wallet.
Gear
Nikon D7000 (Amazon)
Nikon AF 24mm f/2.8D (Amazon)
Nikon AF 50mm f/1.4D (Amazon)
Nikon AF 80-200mm f/2.8D (Amazon)
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